Blog

Archive for 2010

One thing (among many) that we are proud of regarding our elementary program is the trust and support that our parents have for the program. Our fall after-school program started last August 23rd, the same day as the DCPS opening day, which gave us just 2 weeks after our summer program ended to plan and recruit. Nonetheless, in just the first week of the program we received more than 50 intake forms at our Thomson site and 25 intake forms at our Bancroft site. Parents were even asking for more intake forms for their kids but because of the limited cap for students, we had to put some of them on the waiting list. We were able to enroll almost 100 students between our two sites, exceeding our program goal by 25 percent!

We also started our after school program with six new additional staff members to our current staff, who bring in fresh energy and many talents. In addition to academic support, our staffs have been teaching exciting new enrichment activities such as Chinese calligraphy and break dancing.

As of October 1st, 2010, AALEAD Headquarters has relocated to 2100 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, Washington D.C. 20009.

“We are excited about what this move means for AALEAD,” said Rosetta Lai, Executive Director of AALEAD. “Moving to the new site increases accessibility to students and families, increases opportunities for partnerships within our target communities, and ensures critical impact with legislators, community leaders, and funders.”

AALEAD has been proactively monitoring the shifting demographics of its communities over several years. The move better aligns the organization with the evolving needs of the population they serve. Specific benefits of the new AALEAD headquarters location are:

Nyob Zoo Ya’ll!! (that’s hello in Hmong–Southern style) My name is Duabhav Lee and I am the new and improved Volunteer Maryland Coordinator. First, I love AALEAD. I believe that AALEAD has made tremendous impact on the Asian American youth in the DC/MD area. When I interned with AALEAD back in 2007, I went back home to North Carolina so excited to know that there was such a great organization working hard to develop Asian American leaders. This year will be round two for me at AALEAD as I work to recruit, managed, and maintain volunteers for AALEAD through the partnership with Volunteer Maryland.

The first few days back at AALEAD made me very nervous because I didn’t know what to expect. But of course, the staff has made me feel welcomed and loved. I’m excited to be working with such inspiring and passionate people. There has been a lot of change that has taken place since my internship in ‘07–but all good things. First, there is of course the move from Colombia Heights to the New Hampshire Avenue. And secondly, the students I worked with have gone on to better and bigger things…but I do think there are some younger siblings that I wil be seeing around.

Overall, it’s great to be back in the area that I fell in love with and working with the organization that truly inspired me to become a better person. Change can be hard, but change can also be exciting and like my mom says “a new adventure!”

Our office is in the process of moving! Consequently, we will have limited phone and no AALEAD email access between Friday, October 1st and Tuesday October 5th. If you need to reach an AALEAD staff member about matters needing immediate attention, please email aalead@gmail.com.

This month, AALEAD is proud to recommend Last Train Home, directed by Chinese-Canadian filmmaker Lixin Fan (with the producers of the award-winning hit documentary Up the Yangtze), and currently playing at Landmark Theatres E Street Cinema.

Every spring, China’s cities are plunged into chaos as 130 million migrant workers journey to their home villages for the New Year’s holiday. This mass exodus is the world’s largest human migration—an epic spectacle that reveals a country tragically caught between its rural past and industrial future.

This film focuses on one couple who have embarked on this annual trek for almost two decades. Like so many of China’s rural poor, Changhua and Sugin Zhang left behind their two infant children for grueling factory jobs. Their daughter Qin—now a restless and rebellious teenager—both bitterly resents their absence and longs for her own freedom away from school, much to the utter devastation of her parents. Emotionally engaging and starkly beautiful, Last Train Home’s intimate observation of one fractured family sheds light on the human cost of China’s ascendance as an economic superpower.

For more information, check out the film’s official site, including the trailer, here. Information on Landmark Theatres can be found here.

Asian American LEAD will be moving its office headquarters September 30, 2010. The new address will be 2100 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, Washington D.C. 20009.

“We are excited about what this move means for AALEAD,” said Rosetta Lai, Executive Director of AALEAD. “Moving to the new site increases accessibility to students and families, increases opportunities for partnerships within our target communities, and ensures critical impact with legislators, community leaders, and funders.”

AALEAD has been proactively monitoring the shifting demographics of its communities over several years. The move will better align the organization with the evolving needs of the population they serve. Specific benefits of the new AALEAD headquarters location are:

2) Improved on-site program facilities for daily activities and special community
events,

3) Convenient central location to programs operating at DC public school sites, and

4) Enhanced long-term financial sustainability to allow greater flexibility in resource
allocation as the organization maps out its five- and ten-year strategic plans.

AALEAD plans to begin operating at its new site by October 1, 2010. During the transition there will be no disruption of services and support offered to students, schools and the communities. In the interim, its headquarters remain at 1323 Girard Street, NW, Washington D.C., 20009.

At the start of each program year, AALEAD celebrates by inviting its high school students to participate in our Annual Lock In. On Friday Sept 17th, students arrived at our AALEAD community center for the last student event at our 1323 Girard site. The night was filled a variety of ice breakers, games, and workshops. Grillipinos supplied a dinner of skewered chicken and pork. Students then split up into girl and guy groups to discuss gender specific issues and later participated in a series of team building competitions. The night slowed down with some movies and as the sun began to rise we prepared breakfast. The Lock In ended at 9am and in the calm morning air, the students made their way home. Michelle Roca, a student from SSP said, “The food for Lock In was great and I met some new people”. In a couple days we will be moving to a new location but we hope that we will always remember the days we spent at 1323 Girard St.

We are pleased to announce that three of our AALEAD high school students, Veshal Masih, Anthony Escalante, and Talent Nwosu have advanced to the semi-finalist round of the Posse Scholarship!! These students have been involved with AALEAD for the past few years and are very excited to interview for the scholarship. Veshal and Anthony are part of the AALEAD Maryland High School Program. They both attend Blair High School in Montgomery County, MD. Talent Nwosu is part of the AALEAD DC Secondary School Program and attends Bell Multicultural High School. The Posse Foundation seeks students who have extraordinary academic and leadership potential to become Posse Scholars. If selected for the scholarship, students will receive a four-year, full-tuition leadership scholarship from one of Posse’s partner institutions of higher education. Congratulations to our three high school students we are so proud of you and good luck! Post interview updates coming soon!

Hi, I am Taemi from Japan. I will be interning at AALEAD during this fall with the Girls Leadership Program (GLP) and elementary school program (EAS). I have visited Thomson Elementary School twice and look forward to work with cheerful pre-k kids. They are very friendly and have lots of energy! In personal, I am interested in picture books; how these are used in the elementary schools and their role the school and education over all.

I am studying International Business & Trade at the American University in Washington Semester Program. I studied International relations back in Japan.

I am very excited to work in AALEAD during these three months until December 2010. This is my first time to visit the East coast and I really like D.C because of its greenery, different parks and fountains. I like spending time reading a book in the park. I love playing sports as well, especially tennis.

I like meeting new people so feel free to talk to me. I Look forward to meet and make new friends. Thanks!

On Friday, Sept 17th, the Asian Affinity Group at PWC hosted AALEAD students for a day of interactive workshops on resumes and networking!

Here is what one of our students had to say!

We went to PWC which stand for PriceWaterCoopers. It is a business consultant firm. We learned about how to set up and efficiently do resumes, how to interact in the business world and what we can do in the future to help us have a better life. We also did fun activities that corresponded with what they were talking about and it all came together. We did activities on networking with people and what to say when meeting someone for the first time. We also wrote about our uniqueness and commonalities of each other to correspond with remember people. The people there were exciting. They gave us a tour of the building and it was amazing. It looked like a real business like the ones on television and they also had a swimming pool on the roof and wifi throughout the building. It was spectacular and I would love to visit them again.

As you can see, students were engaged in a variety of interactive workshops and mingled well with the PWC employees.